Washington, D.C. - Speptember 2021

We had a family event to attend in Washington, D.C. in September. Rather than driving or flying we took an overnight train down and a train back.

Mostly transportation oriented photographs.

This post is a list of links to the photos themselves.

Below are links to the images broken up by date: 

September 18th, 2021:

Washington, D.C. - Union Station

WMATA - Kawasaki Heavy Industries 7000

Washington, D.C. - Metro Center Station 

Arlington, VA - Ballston-MU Station

Washington, D.C. - L'Enfant Plaza 

September 19th, 2021:

Amtrak - 2256 Acela - First Class

If interested in the processed or RAW version of one of the photos leave a comment or send me a message.

Amtrak - 2256 Acela - First Class

We took the Acela on our trip back to Boston, MA. This time in first class.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/320 second exposure.

Washington, D.C. - L'Enfant Plaza

After dropping our bags off at the hotel we went to the International Spy Museum located near the L'Enfant Plaza metro sop. We were not in a hurry and seemingly took the wrong exit out of the metro so we walked around a bit.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/250 second exposure.

We encountered a bunch of scooter that people just seemingly abandoned here.

Arlington, VA - Ballston-MU Station

The underground stations on the Washington DC metro have these enormous ceilings and cavernous spaces.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/3 second exposure.

The circular lights next to the tracks light up as a train approaches.

Washington, D.C. - Metro Center Station

I took pictures of the Metro Center Station. It is a two-level station with the lines separated.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/4 second exposure.

I like how it is arched.

WMATA - Kawasaki Heavy Industries 7000

 Some newer metro cars. The cars were very brightly lit.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/6 second exposure.

Washington, D.C. - Union Station

We took an overnight Northeast Regional train from Boston, MA to Washington DC. We had a bedroom and used it as a mobile hotel.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 22 mm and f/4.5 and ISO 100 with 1/4 second exposure.

Washington Trip - July 2021

In July we took our first trip during the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point we had both been fully vaccinated for a while. It was a little weird to travel.

We went to Seattle, WA  then through Spokane, WA and finally home to Boston, MA with a brief stop in Chicago, IL.

This post is a list of links to the photos themselves.

Below are links to the images broken up by date:

July 4th, 2021:

JetBlue 197 - Airbus A321 Mint

SeaTac, WA - SeaTac / Airport Station 

Seattle, WA - University Street Station

Rensselaer, NY - Rensselaer Rail Station

The stop at Rensselaer Rail Station is a relatively long stopover. The Lake Shore Limited train is split between part going to New York, NY and Boston, MA here.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 21 mm and f/4.5 and ISO 100 with 1/400 second exposure.

Syracuse, NY - William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center

From Chicago, IL we took the Lake Shore Limited to Boston, MA. The William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center was one of the stations where one can get out and walk, though not for a particularly long time.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 16 mm and f/4.0 and ISO 100 with 1/1000 second exposure.

Chicago, IL - Chicago Union Station

We arrived at Chicago Union Station in Chicago, IL. I took a few photos there.

We used the layover in Chicago to go out for deep dish pizza and meet up with my friend, my sister, and sister's significant other. I love Chicago style deep dish pizza.

Metra engine 124 is a still in service EMD F40PH.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/4 second exposure.

Amtrak - 28 Empire Builder - Superliner Sleeper Bedroom C

Last of the photos from the Empire Builder. We think we would like to do so again in reverse, out to the west. Hopefully we would get to see the mountains and forests in the daylight (I would need to look at the schedule).

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/200 second exposure.

Saint Paul, MN - Saint Paul Union Depot

Saint Paul Union Depot is another one of the get off and take a walk stations.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/1000 second exposure.

Amtrak - 28 Empire Builder - Superliner Sleeper Bedroom C

More photos from our journey across the US Midwest. Unfortunately I did not have the camera out for some of the more interesting forests and mountains we passed. Also, I was either asleep or it was dark for much of that.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 22 mm and f/4.5 and ISO 100 with 1/400 second exposure.

Havre, MT - Havre Station

Havre Station in Havre, MT was one of first extended stops with time to get off the train and stretch our legs.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/1000 second exposure.

Amtrak - 28 Empire Builder - Superliner Sleeper Bedroom C

From Spokane, WA we departed on Amtrak train 28, Empire Builder, from Spokane, WA to a stop over and train change in Chicago, IL.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/2 second exposure.

We had a Superliner Bedroom again. You can read more of my review of the Superliner Bedroom here. As ours was not refurbished nothing had changed.

Spokane, WA - Riverfront Park

We took a walk in the Riverfront Park which allows for a lot of nice river, waterfall, and bridge photos.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 14 mm and f/4.0 and ISO 100 with 1/1000 second exposure.

Spokane, WA - River Park Square

We stopped briefly in the Rive Park Square mall. It had an interesting vertical interior and crisscrossing escalators.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/160 second exposure.

Spokane, WA - Manito Park

Our next stop was Manito Park. Most of were mainly relaxing. Holly decided to take a lot of pictures of flowers.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM @ 50 mm and f/2.8 and ISO 100 with 1/800 second exposure.

Spokane, WA - Riverside State Park - The Bowl and Pitcher

We visited The Bowl and Pitcher and did some light hiking. It was pretty hot though and we did not hike for too long.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 16 mm and f/4.0 and ISO 100 with 1/2500 second exposure.

Spokane, WA - Neil's Home

Our train got into Spokane, WA after midnight. We walked to our hotel and went to bed. In the morning we met up with Holly's uncle and I took some photos from his patio. 

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 1/1000 second exposure.

Gorgeous views of a valley and the road and train bridges that cross it.

Wenatchee, WA - Columbia Station

On our way to Spokane, WA we passed Columbia Station and had a break where we could walk around. I took a few photos.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 25 second exposure.

Amtrak - 28 Empire Builder - Superliner Coach Car

We took Amtrak 28 Empire Builder from Seattle to Spokane, Washington. The train left in the afternoon but does not arrive in Spokane until around 12:30 AM.

The initial part of the trip is along Puget Sound heading out of Seattle, WA.

Seattle, WA - King Street Station

 While we flew from Boston, MA to Seattle, WA we took a train back. We had a stop in Spokane, WA. Our train left from King Street Station.

It was decently pretty inside the waiting area.

Seattle, WA - W Hotel

 After the hike at Little Si and trip to Bainbridge Island I needed a nap. Holly grabbed the camera and took some pictures from the hotel.

She mainly experimented with different camera and lens settings.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 13 mm and f/4.0 and ISO 100 with 1/50 second exposure.

Puget Sound, WA - Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry

 We took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.

I took some photos of Seattle on our departure.

King County, WA - Little Si

 We hiked up Little Si in King County.

Holly did not really start taking photos until we got to the top.

Seattle, WA - W Hotel

 End of the night on our first day and the morning of our second I took some photos from our hotel room.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM @ 10 mm and f/3.5 and ISO 100 with 25 second exposure.

Seattle, WA - University Street Station

 True to form I took pictures of a train station.

Because it is a low load floor train the train platforms are very short.

SeaTac, WA - SeaTac / Airport Station

 Once we got out of the airport we grabbed a train (light rail) ride into Seattle. From the station we had a nice view of the airport and some hills with trees. 

Also pretty interesting light.

JetBlue 197 - Airbus A321 Mint

For our flight to Seattle, WA we booked through American Airlines. For domestic flights they had paired up with JetBlue. So we took a JetBlue flight in their Mint product as a non-stop from Boston to Seattle.

 

The Mint product includes fully lie flat seats which are wonderful for a transcontinental flight.